Semiconductor devices are used in many electronic and other applications. Semiconductor devices comprise integrated circuits or discrete devices that are formed on semiconductor wafers by depositing many types of thin films of material over the semiconductor wafers.
Semiconductor devices are packaged using various packaging technologies. Conventional printed circuit boards consist of a core member or layer—generally referred to as PCB core laminate layer—and one or more additional layers laminated on either side of the core layer. A PCB may include a plurality of conductive and insulating layers sandwiched together. The insulating layers may be a fiberglass sheet or other dielectric material for electrically isolating the conductive layers and for providing structural strength for mounting components. The fiberglass sheet may be impregnated with resin or epoxy, which is a family of thermosetting resins used to form a bond with metal. The conductive layers are typically made of copper foil, which are laminated to the insulation layer using heat and pressure. The copper foil is etched to form signal traces providing the conductive pathways for the electrical signals. Holes or interconnect vias are usually drilled or punched to provide a conductive path between certain traces on different layers. Typically a printed circuit board (PCB) is populated with components post manufacture and in the case of the semiconductor devices, these are supplied as packaged devices. These packaged devices can be in many forms including over-molded through hole or surface mount devices or ball grid array (BGA), Plastic Ball Grid Array (PBGA), Flip-chip chip scale package (CSP) (FCBGA).
Semiconductor packages have to provide outstanding performance without increasing cost. Designs must continue to push the boundaries of performance and leverage more efficient manufacturing methods to achieve cost reductions.